Implicit measures are often preferred to overt questioning in many areas of psychology. Their cov... more Implicit measures are often preferred to overt questioning in many areas of psychology. Their covert nature allows them to circumvent conscious expectations and biases, theoretically providing more objective indicators of people's true attitudes and beliefs. However, we argue that implicit and explicit measures tap into different memory systems, so that the interpretation of implicit measures is not as straightforward as the interpretation of explicit measures. We conducted an experiment investigating the relation between implicit and explicit measures of person impressions. The results demonstrate that a single stimulus can have opposite effects on implicit and explicit measures, supporting the theory that the measures reflect the contents of different memory systems. We suggest that implicit measures reflect simple associations stored in a "slow-learning" memory system, while explicit measures reflect a combination of these associations with contextually dependent memories stored in a "fast-binding" memory system.
Two studies were designed to investigate the relations among ethnic group membership, ethnic grou... more Two studies were designed to investigate the relations among ethnic group membership, ethnic group identification, group based-appraisals, and group-based emotions in determining behavioral tendencies of support and opposition toward diversity initiatives. The two studies confronted participants with the hire of an ethnic minority under a diversity-based procedure. The first study assessed reactions of whites to the hire of an ethnic
Two studies were designed to investigate the relations among ethnic group membership, ethnic grou... more Two studies were designed to investigate the relations among ethnic group membership, ethnic group identification, group based-appraisals, and groupbased emotions in determining behavioral tendencies of support and opposition toward diversity initiatives. The two studies confronted participants with the hire of an ethnic minority under a diversity-based procedure. The first study assessed reactions of whites to the hire of an ethnic minority under a diversity-based or a merit-based policy. The second study compared reactions of white and ethnic minorities to the hire of an ethnic minority under a diversity-based policy. The results of the first study showed that white participants appraised a diversitybased hiring decision as significantly more harmful to the ingroup and unjust which in turn engendered greater feelings of anger toward and shame about the diversity policy rather than the merit based policy, and more stated intentional opposition to the policy. Study 2 revealed that whites' appraisal of the diversitybased policy as unjust and as harmful to the ingroup lead to stronger intentions to oppose because whites felt angry about it. Minorities' appraisals of the diversity-based policy as harmful to the ingroup lead to stronger intentional opposition because they felt ashamed about it, and appraisals of the policy as unjust also lead to intention to oppose because they felt low pride about it. In both studies we provide evidence that ethnic group identification acted as a moderator of the predictive effect of emotions on behavioral intentions toward the diversity-based hire. Results are discussed within an intergroup emotion theory framework.
Implicit measures are often preferred to overt questioning in many areas of psychology. Their cov... more Implicit measures are often preferred to overt questioning in many areas of psychology. Their covert nature allows them to circumvent conscious expectations and biases, theoretically providing more objective indicators of people's true attitudes and beliefs. However, we argue that implicit and explicit measures tap into different memory systems, so that the interpretation of implicit measures is not as straightforward as the interpretation of explicit measures. We conducted an experiment investigating the relation between implicit and explicit measures of person impressions. The results demonstrate that a single stimulus can have opposite effects on implicit and explicit measures, supporting the theory that the measures reflect the contents of different memory systems. We suggest that implicit measures reflect simple associations stored in a "slow-learning" memory system, while explicit measures reflect a combination of these associations with contextually dependent memories stored in a "fast-binding" memory system.
Two studies were designed to investigate the relations among ethnic group membership, ethnic grou... more Two studies were designed to investigate the relations among ethnic group membership, ethnic group identification, group based-appraisals, and group-based emotions in determining behavioral tendencies of support and opposition toward diversity initiatives. The two studies confronted participants with the hire of an ethnic minority under a diversity-based procedure. The first study assessed reactions of whites to the hire of an ethnic
Two studies were designed to investigate the relations among ethnic group membership, ethnic grou... more Two studies were designed to investigate the relations among ethnic group membership, ethnic group identification, group based-appraisals, and groupbased emotions in determining behavioral tendencies of support and opposition toward diversity initiatives. The two studies confronted participants with the hire of an ethnic minority under a diversity-based procedure. The first study assessed reactions of whites to the hire of an ethnic minority under a diversity-based or a merit-based policy. The second study compared reactions of white and ethnic minorities to the hire of an ethnic minority under a diversity-based policy. The results of the first study showed that white participants appraised a diversitybased hiring decision as significantly more harmful to the ingroup and unjust which in turn engendered greater feelings of anger toward and shame about the diversity policy rather than the merit based policy, and more stated intentional opposition to the policy. Study 2 revealed that whites' appraisal of the diversitybased policy as unjust and as harmful to the ingroup lead to stronger intentions to oppose because whites felt angry about it. Minorities' appraisals of the diversity-based policy as harmful to the ingroup lead to stronger intentional opposition because they felt ashamed about it, and appraisals of the policy as unjust also lead to intention to oppose because they felt low pride about it. In both studies we provide evidence that ethnic group identification acted as a moderator of the predictive effect of emotions on behavioral intentions toward the diversity-based hire. Results are discussed within an intergroup emotion theory framework.
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Papers by Eliot Smith